Press Release from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife:

The annual lottery event attracts hundreds of hopeful hunters, anxious to see if they will be one of 2,500 selected from a pool of over 54,000 people who will get the chance at the hunt of a lifetime.

AUGUSTA, Maine – The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is pleased to announce that the drawing for Maine’s moose permit lottery will be held on Saturday, June 9, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. hosted by Main Street Skowhegan at the historic Skowhegan Fairgrounds in Skowhegan, Maine as part of their weekend-long Moose Festival.

Since 1999, the Department has rotated the lottery location throughout the state. Prior to 1999, it was always held in Augusta. In more recent years, lotteries have been held in Greenville, Presque Isle, Bethel, Kittery and Caribou.

“We hold the drawing in different areas of the state so that people can have the opportunity to be part of it first hand,” stated Commissioner Woodcock. “Nothing pleases us more than to have members in the audience react to being selected,” he said.

The Skowhegan Moose Festival kicks off on Friday, June 8 with an exciting schedule of events for the entire weekend, including a moose calling contest, a wild game and craft brew pairing and a country music concert featuring Phil Vassar and Bryan White (ticket required). Additionally, there will be several vendors, food trucks and fun activities for the whole family throughout the entire weekend. A full schedule can be viewed by visiting skowheganmoosefest.com/schedule/

In addition to the many events planned for the weekend-long Skowhegan Moose Festival, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Commissioner’s Advisory Board for the Licensing of Guides will host a roundtable discussion on June 9 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Lyndall Smith Building at the Skowhegan Fairgrounds. The public, particularly registered Maine guides and industry stakeholders, are invited to attend.

At 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 9, the moose permit lottery drawing will commence. There is no charge to attend the lottery event at the Skowhegan Moose Festival and the reading of names is expected to last 3 hours.

This year, 2,500 names will be drawn in the random chance lottery from a pool of over 54,000 applicants.

Maine’s moose hunt is designed to manage the moose population. By modifying the number and type of moose permits available to hunters, the department can manage the moose population in order to provide for hunting and viewing opportunities, maintain a healthy moose population, and limit the number of moose/vehicle accidents.

For those prospective moose hunters who can’t make it to the lottery drawing, the names of permit winners will be posted on the Department’s web site starting at 6:00 p.m. on the day of the event. Visit mefishwildlife.com to access the list once it has been posted.

For more information on moose hunting in Maine, visit mefishwildlife.com For more information about the Skowhegan Moose Festival and to see a full schedule of events, visit skowheganmoosefest.com

It was announced recently that the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) has decided to issue an all-time record number of doe permits (Any-Deer Permits). The reason they give for this unprecedented increase is: “…that in all but six of the state’s Wildlife Management Districts the projected doe harvest was not reached last fall.”

There could a number of reasons the doe harvest fell short statewide – the number of hunters, weather conditions, available food supply (for the deer, not the hunters), more hunters with doe permits taking bucks instead – to name a few.

So the question becomes, will increasing doe permits to a record number achieve the desired harvest? Another question might be, does MDIFW have a clue as to the reason the harvest wasn’t achieved? Was it simply not enough permits issued? What the rate of does harvested comparable to the rate in other years? Or, is MDIFW just issuing more permits and hoping for the best? We’ll never know.

It appears that the issuance of permits and the bulk of the increase is focused on much of Central and Southern Maine where deer survival has been good. This increase in those areas makes sense.

Key to this decision might be what MDIFW reportedly said about what was behind this increase other than achieving harvest goals: “The proposed increase in permits is a result of the goals and objectives set by the public in the state’s big-game management plan, which was recently revised.” (Note: I find it interesting that at least certain members of the MDIFW seem to be going out of their way to tell us that the “public” has made all these decisions about the ins and outs of game management. It wasn’t until recently when the Draft Management Plans for deer, bear, moose, and turkey were made available to the public for their comments. It is quite dishonest, therefore, to label those members who gave of their time to assist in formulating new management plans, the “Public.” In addition, MDIFW likes to give lots of weight to the fake “surveys” they paid a lot of money to get. I have written on this topic before and it is quite unfortunate that MDIFW decided to, not only conduct this biased, outcome-based survey but to put so much emphasis on it and then call it the “Public” and thus the “Public” devised these game management plans. Isn’t this a convenient scapegoat when and if management goals fail?)

So, from the perspective of deer management, according to MDIFW the public wants a lot fewer deer in Central and Southern Maine. And where’s the science in this decision or is it all society demands? Giving the benefit of any doubt to MDIFW biologists in meeting harvest goals is understandable. What is not is a move to issue a record number of doe permits because the public demands such.

If MDIFW is saying these decisions are based on the new management plans, then are we to assume also that this is being partly justified as part of achieving a “healthy” deer herd rather than a focus on the population?

It will be interesting to see if making this decision to liberally increase doe permits results in MDIFW reaching their harvest goals.

As far as the moose hunt and management goes, issuing a meager 2,500 permits, to be taken by lottery, doesn’t seem to be fitting the explanations we have been given for moose management and the new healthy moose agenda.

When you consider that at a time when the Maine moose population was estimated at anywhere between 70,000 and 90,000, permit issuance reached a high of over 4,000 permits, 2,500 is out of proportion. According to CentralMaine.com, that estimated “healthy?” moose population is estimated at 50,000 – 70,000. Information gathered from an ongoing moose study indicates that the density of moose is directly proportionate to the number of deadly winter ticks, and yet, if MDIFW is gearing toward a healthy moose population, the increase in permits appears a bit meager to me.

And, the majority of the increase in moose permits, from 2,080 to 2,500 are for those areas where MDIFW has been studying moose. Is this increase really about achieving a healthy moose population or a move to manipulate study results? Hmmm.

From this study area, we were told that winter tick presence had dropped around 68% and that moose calf survival rates were at near 100% – for collared moose.

In some ways, I can understand the “conservative” approach to moose permit issuance, but indications are MDIFW doesn’t really want to accept the fact that too many moose results in too many ticks and that it can’t be blamed on global warming.

So, we will have to wait two years to know whether the 2018 deer season will result in the Department’s doe harvest goal, and over one year to find out about the moose. God only knows how long it will take before MDIFW decides exactly what they plan to do with the moose.

It would be nice to have updates on study findings and to get game harvest results in some kind of reasonable fashion. Instead, I expect that with this announcement of paying less attention to game numbers, placing the focus on “health” (wink-wink) MDIFW will eventually stop counting harvested game. With it will disappear even more accountability.

*Editor’s Note* – It was noted by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW)that their ongoing moose study has indicated that a reduction in the moose herd will mitigate the winter tick problem. Does that mean there will be more moose permits issued during this lottery? This could be the last best chance you have of getting your hands on a moose permit.

If MDIFW seriously intends to reduce the moose population in Maine to a level to reduce winter tick infestation, will we ever know at what level they intend to bring it down to…if at all? Understand that if MDIFW plans to lower the moose population and keep it that way, once the population is at target levels, more than likely the number of permits will be reduced as well. Then again, if the moose herd is “healthy” they may prosper to a point they will always need to be pared down. Wink-wink.

Apply for a permit

To hunt for moose in Maine, you will need a permit; and due to high demand, these permits are administered through a chance lottery.

Apply Online: visit to maine.gov/online/moose and fill out the online moose permit application. There, you’ll be able to indicate several preferences, including:

WMD preferences – which districts you’d be willing to accept a permit in, and if you’d accept a permit in another WMD if your name is drawn and all of your top choices are filled

Season preferences – if you only want to hunt in a specific month.

Antlerless preference – whether or not you would accept an antlerless permit.

Your sub-permittee – This is someone authorized to participate with you in your moose hunt. You can designate an alternate sub-permittee, and can apply with MDIFW to change either of these names up to 30 days before the hunting season begins.

Application Deadline:11:59 p.m. on May 15, 2018

Want to be there for the drawing?

Attend the Skowhegan Moose Fest June 8-10 at the Skowhegan Fairgrounds (drawing will take place on June 9). More info: skoweganmoosefest.com

AUGUSTA, Maine – The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is now accepting applications online for the 2018 Maine moose permit lottery. Applications for the 2018 Maine moose permit lottery will be accepted online only. The online application process is fast and simple and you receive instant confirmation that you have successfully entered the lottery.

To apply online, go to mefishwildlife.com and fill out the online moose permit application. There, applicants will be able to indicate several preferences, including which wildlife management districts (WMD) they are willing to accept a permit in, and if they would accept a permit in another WMD if their name is drawn and all of their top choices are filled. They will also be able to select your preferred hunting season, whether or not they would accept an antlerless permit, and their choice of a sub-permittee.

If an applicant does not have access to a computer or the Internet at home, the Department has the following suggestions for applying online:

• Use a computer at work during lunch or a break • Use a computer at your local library • Ask a friend or relative with a computer for help in applying

The deadline to apply for the lottery is 11:59 p.m. on May 15, 2018.

Applicants are awarded bonus points for each consecutive year that they have applied for the lottery since 1998 without being selected and each bonus point gives the applicant an additional chance in the drawing.

Bonus points are earned at the rate of one per year for years one to five, two per year for years six to 10, three per year for years 11 to 15 and 10 per year for years 16 and beyond.

Since 2011, applicants can skip a year and not lose their bonus points. So if they applied in 2016 but not in 2017, they still have their points available if they apply in 2018.

Want to be there for the drawing? The 2018 moose lottery permit drawing will take place during the Skowhegan Moose Festival. The festival runs June 8-10, 2018 at the Skowhegan Fairgrounds and the drawing will take place on the afternoon of June 9. For more information, please visit skowheganmoosefest.com For more information about moose hunting in Maine and the moose permit lottery, please visit: http://www.maine.gov/ifw/hunting-trapping/moose-permit.html

It appears that where once there was a “lottery” to decide who gets a limited number of moose permits for the annual Maine moose hunt, it is now a process of doling out certain numbers of permits to a wide variety of special interest groups, all the while further screwing over the people and the process of “randomly” selecting recipients for a moose permit, some of whom have been waiting for decades.

Now it appears that if you are 65 years old and have accrued 30 Moose Lottery Points – another crooked process that benefits the wealthy and puts the screws to everyone else – you can automatically be awarded a moose permit when you apply. Theoretically that could use up all that is left (which isn’t much) of moose permits that haven’t already been handed out to crony, special interest groups already.

Nonresidents will, once again get the shaft, as the allotment of moose permits given to nonresidents will be cut from 10% to 8%. One would think that the extra 2% of moose permits would revert back to the general (fake) lottery, so Maine resident hunters can have a better chance to bag a moose. But, NO! Those 2% will be “sold” to hunting outfitters to “subsidize” the hunting outfitter industry – socialized moose hunting.

Another brain child of some wealthy hoarder of moose permits (also known as a crooked politician with the ability to bullshit his way through the Legislature with such perverted nonsense), proposed and it has passed, another bill that will provide kids 10 years of age to begin paying taxes to hunt moose but aren’t allowed to do so until they get old enough. The bill is typically worded with deception saying that a 10-year-old can begin “accruing points” so that when they are old enough to hunt, they think their chances of winning are going to be higher. In truth, it’s another way for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) to make money off a golden goose that is about to go extinct.

How many times have people and groups, such as the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, stood up to defend those brazen enough to dare claim that MDIFW and game management use game animals and their management practices to promote trophy hunting? And yet here we see an example of how, where once, after a little proper management, Maine was able to rebuild a seriously diminished moose herd to a point where it was decided that the herd could sustain a limited harvest. A lottery was devised and the process has gone to hell since that time, thanks mostly to ignorant and corrupt politicians looking to beef up their constituency as they look forward to reelection. Of course if you have been a beneficiary of the elitism and cronyism of the special interest groups, along with the subsidizing of your private enterprise, you think I’m an old spoil-sport, whiner.

Think what you will. But this is all truth. It’s a damned shame!

Those same people who are often chastised by the “hunting” community often say that all wildlife is for everyone. What a bunch of horse manure that has turned out to be. Hunters and license buyers pay the majority of the cost to “manage wildlife” so everyone can enjoy it, and generally speaking we don’t mind. Now, people like me and tens of thousands of other licensed outdoor sportsmen, are paying our share toward the system, to grow and maintain a moose herd, and the state’s socialists are seeing fit to take the rewards of that investment and doling it out to every special interest group in the state as well as helping to subsidize private businesses.

Every allotment of moose permits to any and all special interest groups and private enterprise, should be repealed immediately.

Press Release from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife:

The 2016 Maine Moose Permit Lottery Drawing will take place on June 11 at Kittery Trading Post

We are so pleased to announce that the drawing for Maine’s moose permit lottery will be held on Saturday, June 11, 2016 at Kittery Trading Post in Kittery, Maine.

This year, 2,140 names will be drawn in the random chance lottery from a pool of over 55,000 applicants.

The event will be held under a tent at Kittery Trading Post. Festivities kick off at 9:00 a.m. Food will be available from Kittery Trading Post’s new “Lobster Pot” restaurant located on the patio and over one dozen local vendors will be on site offering everything from guided hunting trips to handmade crafts and goods. Staff from the Department including local biologists and game wardens will be on hand at the event as well.

At 2:00 p.m., we will commence the drawing and announce the name of the first hunter fortunate enough to be selected.

Since 1999, the Department has rotated the lottery throughout the state. Prior to 1999, it was always held in Augusta. In more recent years, lotteries have been held in Scarborough, Oquossoc, Greenville, Presque Isle, and Bethel.

We hold the drawing in different areas of the state so that people can have the opportunity to be part of it first hand. Nothing pleases us more than to have members in the audience react to being selected!

For those of you who can’t make it to the event, the names of permit winners will be posted on the Department’s website starting at 6:00 p.m. on the day of the event. Visit www.mefishwildlife.com to access the list once it has been posted.

There is no charge to attend the event at Kittery Trading Post. In the past, the reading of names has lasted approximately 3-4 hours. Kittery Trading Post is located at 301 U.S. Route One, Kittery, Maine.

Press Release from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife:

The deadline to apply online for the Maine Moose Permit Lottery is fast approaching, and hunters who want the chance to hunt moose in Maine need to visit www5.informe.org/online/moose/ and complete their online application by 11:59pm on May 16.

The online application process is fast and simple and you receive instant confirmation that you have successfully entered the lottery.

The Department will hold a chance drawing on June 11, 2016 at Kittery Trading Post.

Press Release from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife:

The 2015 Moose Permit Drawing will take place on Saturday, June 13 as part of the Bethel Maine Moose Festival. The weekend-long event is highlighted by the moose lottery drawing at 3 p.m. on Saturday at the Bethel Common, when the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will announce the names of those drawn for one of the 2,740 moose hunting permits.

On Friday evening, June 12, the Moose Festival gets started with a qualifying round of the Maine Moose Calling Championship at Gould Academy’s Bingham Auditorium. Maine’s nationally touring alt-country rock band, The Mallett Brothers, will also perform that night at The Bethel Inn Resort.

In addition to the moose permit lottery on Saturday, June 13, the schedule for the day also includes the finals of the Moose Calling Championship, appearances from the cast of North Woods Law, kids’ activities, hunting- and fishing-related demonstrations, the L.L. Bean Bootmobile, an ATV safety course, raffles and vendors, including guides, outdoor products, non-profits, crafts and food. After the lottery, Team Zespy will show off their exhibition shooting skills.

Sunday’s events include Youth Field Day at the UMaine 4-H Camp & Learning Center in Bryant Pond and a golf tournament at The Bethel Inn Resort to benefit camp scholarships.

For those prospective moose hunters who can’t make it to the lottery drawing, the names of permit winners will be posted on the Department’s website starting at 8 p.m. on Saturday. Visit www.mefishwildlife.com to access the list once it has been posted.

Press Release from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife:

The deadline to apply online for the Maine Moose Lottery is fast approaching, and hunters who want the chance to hunt moose in Maine need to visit bit.ly/mainemoosefestival and complete their online application by 11:59pm on May 14.

The online application process is fast and simple and you receive instant confirmation that you have successfully entered the lottery.

Bonus points are awarded for each consecutive year the applicant has applied for the lottery since 1998 without being selected and each bonus point gives the applicant an additional chance in the drawing.

Bonus points are earned at the rate of one per year for years one to five, two per year for years six to 10, three per year for years 11 to 15 and 10 per year for years 16 and beyond.

Since 2011, applicants can skip a year and not lose their bonus points. So if they applied in 2013 but not in 2014, they still have their points available if they apply in 2015.

Permit winners and their subpermittees will be able to hunt in one of the department’s 25 wildlife management districts (WMD’s), which cover more than 21,000 square miles.

The moose hunting season takes place between late September and late November, depending on the specific WMD given.

This year, the Department will be issuing 2,740 permits in a chance drawing that will take place on June 13, 2015 at the Moose Festival in Bethel, Maine. To learn more about the festival, please visit www.bethelmainemoosefest.com